Up-to-the-minute Footnotes

A roof is the English name given to the covering on the uppermost aspect of a building. Roofs are essential to any building, as a way to protect interior spaces from bad weather and create a comfortable and safe inside environment. Despite the universal appeal and need for roofs, there is a big difference in the type and style of roofing geometry and material. The individual characteristics of a roof depend upon the purpose of a particular building, the availability of particular building materials, and the local customs and traditions of the builders and craftsmen involved in its construction. The architectural design of a roof can vary widely around the world, and sometimes even within individual countries and regions.

There are commonly found to be three different elements to roof design; the material used, the construction process, and the durability. While the architecture and geometry of roofs can vary widely, there are a number of common roof parts that are used in all buildings around the world. Firstly, all roofs need to have a support structure of some kind, to hold up the covering material and form a bridge between the roof and the rest of the building. Roofing support comes in a wide range of different styles, and is commonly made from wood, iron, and steel. In some developing and undeveloped nations, bamboo is also often used as a way to support lighter roof coverings. Stone has also been used for thousands of years as a roof support, although it is used less in modern times due to the availability and cost of a number of other materials.

Some of the most well known roof shapes in use around the world include the arched roof, the catenary, the conical roof, the flat roof, and the ridged roof. The ridged roof has a number of different sub-groups, including the pitched ridge, hip roof, and mansard. It is very interesting how specific types of roofs are used almost exclusively in certain countries, because of both practical and cultural considerations. A particular kind of roof can often be linked to a particular country, and sometimes even to a specific region within a country. Roofs are an excellent example of how a universal need can blossom out into a number of unique designs, based both on practical weather concerns and the particular aesthetic tastes of a group of people.